Speaker ratings

Status
Not open for further replies.

h_kunte

Journeyman
cud any1 plz xplain what these speaker ratings [2.13.1,4.1 etc] actualy mean?.....do they stand for power outputs ?
 

cvvikram

MVP in VC++
Hey man it's quiet simple--Thease indicate as fallows-

1) 2.1 --> 2 satellite speakers and one Subwoofer
1) 4.1 --> 4 satellite speakers and one Subwoofer
1) 5.1 --> 5 satellite speakers and one Subwoofer

and so on.....is it ok dude..
 

masterasmit

Broken In
its obviously the 1st digit stands 4 the number of satellite speakers n .1 stands 4 the subwoofer. 5.1 is great to enjoy movie n games.
if u can afford 4 a 7.1 system u ll know how to refreshed by sound.
first chech ur mb.which type of audio support is there.if its 7.1/8.1 channel go 4 7.1 speaker system.if its 6.1/5.1 then go 4 5.1 speaker system.
creative inspire,megawork
n
altec lansing will help u.
 

Minimalistix

I'm back!
A short Primer on Audio System Channels.

Hi,

Th point specification of a speaker system tells us bout th num of channels it can process.

You can think of channels as th direction frm where u'll hear th sound. But, it all really depends upon where u place
th Satellite (a small speaker set tht accompanies a Sub-Woofer) tht processes tht channel. {*1 - see later, below}

It's a lil' difficult to explain but I'll explain tht again later.

First, u need to know tht at th very basic level, sound or rather th music tht we hear is either mono (single channel)
like in a Radio where we just hav only 1 speaker to process tht channel or stereo (dual channel) like in a simple stereo
audio system havin 2 speakers
- Left speaker to process th left channel and th Right one to process th Right channel.

Unless u r hearing to a Radio, most of th music we hear nowadays is at least Stereo or better.
In fact, much much better!! You must hav heard about Dolby Digital, Surround Sound, DTS, SDDS etc.

Whn u hear an audio, say a typical mp3 file, or a typical audio cassette, it normally consists of data for each channel tht th
audio supports. Most of th mp3s or all of th audio cassettes tht we get to hear r Stereo in nature. Tht means, they normally
have 2 sets of data, for th 2 channels - Left and Right - played simultaneously by 2 speakers. Left channel by th left speaker
n th Right one by th Right.


{*1 - see above}
E.g. When u watch a DVD, and somebody, say our hero, fires a gunshot while being on th Right side of th screen, thn on a
Stereo system u'll hear th sound of th gunshot, predominantly coming from th Right speaker.
But, if u've misplaced th Right
speaker on th Left side, u'll hear it from th left.
So, if th positions of th speakers are right, u'll hear it from th Right side.

So, a 2.1 audio system basically means tht it can process 2 channels - Left and Right one.

Now, u'll ask tht if it can only process 2 channels, thn y a 2.1 system sounds much better
thn a simple 2-speaker audio set - those big ones, which come for around Rs. 500/- in India.

Tht's b'coz of tht ".1" in 2.1!! Well here, a point does make a difference. :) Tht ".1" stands for th Sub-Woofer.

Th woofer, consists of an audio sub-system tht splits th audio into 2 channels
and makes thm available at
"Left Channel Output" and "Right Channel Output" Ports.

Now, th Satellite, or simply th other small speaker set tht accompanies th Sub-Woofer, tht u want as ur
Left Speaker is placed physically on th left side and thn connected to "Left Channel Output" Port behind th Sub-Woofer.
Th 1 u want as ur Right Speaker is placed physically on th Right side and is thn connected to th "Right Channel Output" Port.

A simple 2-speaker audio set, is usually mono, i.e, u hear th same sound from both th speakers.
In other words, even if th Audio u play is Stereo, u hear both th left and right channels frm both th speakers.

So, u miss out on th gr8 Panning effects tht one gets on a 2.1 or higher.

Apart, from ths a Sub-Woofer also splits th audio into high and low frequencies. Th higher end, known as Treble,
is thn processed by th Left and Right sattelites, whereas, th lower end, known as Bass, is processed by th Sub-Woofer.

Tht's y whn u increase th sound level to a certain extent, on a simple 2-speaker audio set,
u start to hear a lot of crackles as they r not able to process bass on high volumes effectively.

On a 2.1 or higher th bass is processed separately by th Sub-Woofer and tht's y u get a better deeper
thumping sound effect. A high quality Sub-Woofer is also made up of wood to provide for better acoustics.


A 4.1 audio system means tht it can process 4 channels and has a Sub-Woofer.
Th 4 channels are - Front Side Left, Front Side Right, Back Side Left, and Back Side Right.


A "True" 4.1 channel (or higher) audio system always needs 4 (or higher) audio channel outputs.

There are brands like Intex and Mercury which hav relatively cheaper so-called 4.1
audio systems tht don't need more than 2 audio channel outputs. Well, these are fake!!

They don't process th back side channels and so 2 of th 4 Satellites process th same
"Left Channel Output" and th other 2 th same "Right Channel Output". Tht's y these are
known as "Psuedo" 4.1 speaker systems and are cheaper than other brands like Creative.

Similarly, a 5.1 channel audio system can process 5 channels and has a Sub-Woofer.
It can process all th 4 channels of a 4.1, plus an extra one located at th front side, in th center,
but raised above other channels so tht it can target th listener located at th center of th audio setup.


The more th num of channels, th more powerful (RMS Rating) and better quality Sub-Woofer you get. To me tht
means, u hav more num of reasons to turn tht volume up and make th whole neighbourhood listen up to wht u like!!


You can enjoy Games supporting Surround Sound, DVDs and other high quality audio stuff much much better on a higher
channel audio system thn on a lower one. In short, th more th num of channels u hav th more immersive th audio
environment gets.


Nowadays, on th latest motherboards, you can get a 5.1, 6.1 or even a 7.1 onboard audio processor.

You can use a lower channel (say, 4.1) audio system on a higher channel (say, 5.1) onboard audio,
but you can't use a higher channel (say, 6.1) audio system on a lower channel (say, 5.1) onboard audio.


If you want to run a higher channel audio system than wht ur motherboard's onboard audio supports, you
would have to buy a Sound Card havin th same or higher num of channels than wht ur audio system demands.
 

Nemesis

Wise Old Owl
THe power output of speakers are rated in PMPO and RMS. PMPO numbers are misleading and do not accurately reflect power output. RMS is much more accurate and should be considered when buying speakers.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom